Woman in Russia imprisoned for SMS about military equipment before Georgia war in 2008

Russian citizen Oksana Sevastidi was sentenced to 7 years in prison on charges of treason. The cause for the prosecution was several text messages that she sent in 2008, shortly before the war with Georgia.

Sevastidi texted to a friend in Georgia that she saw a train with military equipment in Sochi that was going towards Abkhazia.

Krasnodar Regional Court sentenced Sevastidi in March 2016, but it was never reported.

News portal “Medusa” found Sevastidi’s case in the database of the court. The case was considered on March 3, 2016, by Judge Vladimir Kobzev.

Sevastidi’s lawyer Pavlov seeks her release. He noted that in the sentence there are details of the events that preceded the war with Georgia, in particular, the numbers of military units, and types of the equipment that was moved by rail.

“From the point of view of the importance and sensitivity of the information she sent in her SMS it was a drop in the ocean,” Pavlov said.